End of an era

Mohawk Industries closes its Waynesboro carpet backing plant today, leaving an uncertain future for one of the city’s largest manufacturing sites.

The world’s leading flooring producer, Calhoun, Ga.-based Mohawk came to Waynesboro in 2005, occupying the former Wayn-Tex facility that first opened under another name in 1950. That year, Wayn-Tex equipment was perhaps the first of its kind in the country, symbolizing the beginning of a new era of carpet production, industry experts said.

The plant at 901 S. Delphine Ave. long has been one of the area’s leading employers, but rounds of layoffs hit this year as the continued slump in the housing market made for dwindling demand for carpet.

The company announced Oct. 19 that it would close its Waynesboro plant and lay off 120 workers.

City officials said the closure is a blow to the city’s traditional manufacturing base, but that the facility already has been shown to at least one company and is expected to be put up for sale.

“I don’t know whether it’s realistic to have another large [manufacturer] assume the facility,” City Manager Mike Hamp said. “We will be keen to adaptive reuse and creative reuse … We’ll have to be aware of the transition that our economy is making.”

Mohawk representatives did not return a dozen calls seeking comment.

“I just feel horrible for the people that are losing their jobs,” Mayor Tim Williams said. “We’ll try to do everything we can to try to retrofit [the plant] with another business.”

“It’s still rough out there,” Vice Mayor Frank Lucente said. “Everybody’s trying to get industry.”

Meanwhile, the flooring industry received some tentative good news this week. In November, for the first time in three years, monthly demand for carpet backing surpassed the demand in the same month in the previous year, said Kemp Harr, publisher of Floor Focus Magazine.

“We’re starting to see for the first time in three years an uptick in the industry,” Harr said. “We’re still being cautiously optimistic.”

When Mohawk announced closure of the Waynesboro plant, a news release cited the reason as “the necessity of aligning production capacity with market demands.” The carpet market is down about 35 percent since its peak in 2005, Harr said.

Mohawk, a publicly held company, lost $1.5 billion in 2008 and had a net loss of $25 million in the first nine months of this year. The company reported a third-quarter profit.

“It’s an excellent facility,” Economic Development Authority Chairman Thomas Reider said of the plant Thursday.

“Hate to see them go,” he said. “It’s a tremendous loss to our city.”

Assessed by the city at $8.1 million, the 27-acre property should be attractive to manufacturers because of its rail access and proximity to Interstate 64, Hamp and Reider said.

“You’re sitting on a golden site,” Reider said.

City Planner Michael Barnes called the plant “very adaptable.”

The plant’s technology, although cutting edge in the 1950s, is “probably obsolete” and prohibitive to any textile manufacturers who would consider moving in, Harr said.